Former Ekiti State deputy governor, Senator Biodun Olujimi, who is seeking re-election to represent Ekiti South Senatorial District in the Senate, speaks with ‘YOMI AYELESO on the crisis in the PDP, the party’s chances in next year’s elections, her own re-election bid, as well as other issues affecting the country.
As a senator and stakeholder from the South, do you see merit in the agitation of some governors calling for the resignation of the national chairman of your party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Iyorchia Ayu?
As for me, that is neither here nor there. The people who are agitating for Ayu’s removal are right in a way, because there was an agreement and the agreement says that, when a presidential candidate of Northern extraction emerges, it would not be fair to have a northern chairman and candidate. However, I want to say the truth. We did not really think through the process, because, in our constitution, if he [Ayu] resigns, the deputy national chairman from that zone takes over from him and, with that, we wouldn’t have achieved our goals.
But you see, the governors who are fighting are fighting on the basis of justice and that is what all of us and the party are all about: justice, equity and fairness. There are several schools of thought in that direction and one of them is that, for the PDP, we first had President Olusegun Obasanjo who did eight years; we had Umaru Yar’Adua, who did just two years. Then, we had President [Goodluck] Jonathan who did six years. If you look at the two, the South had done 14 years in the PDP and the North two years. If there is going to be justice and equity, it would naturally be the turn of the North. However, when it was important for us to have zoning, a committee was set up, made up of mainly governors and stakeholders of the party and they came with the idea of throwing the field open for everyone to contest.
And when you throw the field open, anyone can win. Now a candidate from the North has been thrown up in the process. What is important is our being able to come to the table and look at the unfolding scenarios and be able to find a middle course, which I believe is what is going on now. It is not wrong to insist there is no fairness in having a presidential candidate from the North and a northerner as chairman and there is nothing wrong in looking at these issues for everyone to come to an agreeable conclusion. And I believe, at the end of day, we will go in a direction. I want to use this opportunity to beg our governors, especially our dear Governor Wike, who is leading the team. He is fighting for all of us; he is fighting for my zone. It is not about him; it is about the zone; it is about justice and equity, but there is a need for us to put these things on the table and find a middle course and see how we can achieve a common goal, because it is only when we are able to work for the people that we can say, as a political party, that we have succeeded. He is a great party man; he loves this party and he has been working assiduously and still working for the party and he has not stopped. I have been speaking with some of the governors and they are campaigning for the party while they are aggrieved. I want to salute their courage.
Considering that the APC are in charge at the centre and in your state, what are your chances in winning a re-election to the Senate?
God is the only power at the centre. The centre was there, solid, when God took me back to the Senate and I know it will happen again. I believe what will speak for all of us is what we have been able to do for our people. The lives we have touched; the communities that we have been able to assist; the things that people can point at as our achievements that is what will speak. Whichever way you look at it, I stand in better stead than any other person, because I have been in the Senate twice and the last one, I was in the leadership. So, I was able to attract loads of projects into the senatorial district.
In the final analysis, people will put us on a scale of preference according to what we can bring. When you are a cognate member, you know the route, when you are new, you are treading cautiously, and it takes you a while before you know the nitty-gritty. For a cognate member, you can hit the ground running and assist the people better than someone who is coming in fresh. There was a preponderance of opinions early that we should return our legislators as many times as possible to keep them abreast of the workings of the National Assembly and lawmaking, so that we don’t keep pushing in brand new members and this took roots in some zones; it has not in our zones, but our people have done well because, for a change, we have people who have been able to go to the National Assembly twice and in the other zones, they have people who have been there five times , four times. The level of development that they have mobilised to their constituencies cannot be quantified, because they now know how to do it and, so, it is easy for them as cognate members to speak to other members and get immeasurable results to their constituencies.
We have people who are in the Senate in their sixth term and that is essential for development. I believe that is reason the constitution did not restrict the number of times that you can be a lawmaker and I think that is wisdom. That is why I believe I will be the choice of the people in the election next year. What we have done will speak for us and I feel more comfortable than ever before. The people are now discerning and know who has their interest at heart and I know they will vote once again for us.
But people are of the opinion that all PDP leaders in the state are not on the same page. Don’t you think there is need for reconciliation among leaders ahead of the elections?
That is what we have been doing. But, I won’t lie to you that it has been a tough one. On the side of the leaders, we are together. We believe in coming together, sharing ideas and moving the party forward, but we still have problem. We have not been able to bring the former governor, AyodeleFayose, into the picture and I don’t want to talk much, because I believe in this party and I know it is only in unity that you can get anything done. There is nothing we can achieve through division. I believe there is need for all of us to sit together and look at the reasons for which this party must go back to winning ways. I know we will get there. It will be tedious but, for some of us, we are undaunted; we have done it before. We have been pilloried and vilified, but we stood our ground. We will stand our ground and the party will succeed again.
As one of the leaders of the opposition parties and a stakeholder in Ekiti State project, what is your advice for the new governor, Biodun Oyebanji?
Let me quickly say that I am not happy my party is not taking the seat of power in Ekiti State, but that is for partisan politics. The people have spoken; they have elected one man. I was shocked on Monday when he put a call to me and said, ‘senator , I want to hit the ground running and I intend to meet all of you that are representing us in Abuja to chart a way forward.‘ I have just returned from the meeting and what I saw, what I heard from him rekindles my hope in the Ekiti project. He said we must work together as a team that this is not about party politics; it is about lifting our states from the doldrums and placing it on that pedestal where people can now look at us and think we are a state to be reckoned with.
He looked at all the roads and he decided all of us, one after the other, must give him an idea on what to do to ensure that our roads work again. He won’t be the only one to ply the roads; we will all ply the roads. He asked us what he can do, even if it requires him to go begging and crawling to ensure that development comes into Ekiti from every sector. He looked at the industries, agriculture and other infrastructure. He spoke to us about how to harness our constituency projects to meet with the yearnings of the government and our constituents. He pledged that he would go round the state and find out what they require most so that when we are shopping for our constituency projects, we can prioritise and give the people what they need the most. As for me, that is all about Ekiti project and as I told him, I wished he was in my party. But, again, he told me that this is Ekiti party and as long as Ekiti succeeds, parties will come and go, but the development will stay with us forever. I want to salute his tenacity and commitment to the vision that Ekiti must rise again. Of course, we will work for the Ekiti project. We will be part of the success of the Ekiti project and we will also fight to come back to ensure that we are the ones they will support to lead Ekiti further.
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